Reactionary Gun Laws Being Proposed in South Carolina After The Tucson, Arizona Shooting

Just one week after a lunatic suffering from delusions and hallucinations killed six people and wounded eighteen in an assassination attempt on U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the crisis managers have turned up the heat.

One might be able to stand the political grandstanding made by politicians, pundits, and even the President himself, if the consequences weren’t so dire here in the real world. As is the case in every shooting, whether legitimate or manufactured by the government, gun-grabbers leap into action to use the tragedy as an example of why the American people should be disarmed. Gun owners and militias are demonized as well as those who espouse “conspiracy theories.”

ties to intelligence agencies[2]. It should also be mentioned that Mr. Potok, who is obviously considered to be such an expert on these issues, could not even do the simple research needed to pronounce David Icke’s last name properly.

Yet this reactionary assault on the Constitution did not end with the Federal government. State governments are planning their own brand of tyranny for their citizens. An example of this is a new law[7] being proposed by the South Carolina state legislature which is, admittedly, a result of and response to the Giffords shooting in Tuscon.

The new law, which will be introduced by State Representative Chip Limehouse next week, will require South Carolina colleges and universities “to turn over records on disruptive and threatening students who drop out” in order to “avoid tragedies like the recent shooting in Tucson, AZ.” How this law will actually help to prevent these types of tragedies is not explained. Perhaps because it won’t.

It is hard to say exactly how having the shooter’s information and university records on file would have prevented him from committing the crime. That is, unless everyone who had such a record was being monitored in some kind of massive Big Brother surveillance system in real time. While it might be true that this bill might help to build a case for prosecution after the fact, the idea that it would prevent such an attack is absolutely ludicrous.

AP reports that Rep. Limehouse claims “the legislation isn’t more of an intrusion on rights than federal do-not-fly lists or state sex offender registries.” Of course, there is a major hole in Limehouse’s logic because federal do-not-fly lists and state sex offender registries are a violation of rights.

This law is nothing more than an attempt to give government more open access to private information — plain and simple. It is a blatant violation of privacy and the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. South Carolinians should be out in the streets protesting this bill, not entertaining it as a legitimate solution. In the face of tragedy and adversity, it is high time the American people react with faith and courage instead of fear and cowardice.

I am calling on all my fellow South Carolinians to oppose this law. We need to let our elected representatives know that if they vote for this bill, they will not be in their position after the next election. We need to talk to each other and mobilize opposition now. I am calling on all South Carolina Senators and Representatives to vote against this bill. I am calling on the new Governor, Nikki Haley, to veto this bill if it passes. Lastly, I am calling on all South Carolina colleges and universities to consider destroying the records of these current and former students in order to protect their rights and the trust they placed in these institutions during the time they were students there.

After the passage of the unconstitutional disgrace known as the Patriot Act several years ago, many libraries began to destroy the records[10] of what their patrons read for the same reasons. This was a true act of patriotism and one should be replicated by our colleges and universities. Let’s see if they have the same courage.